The Kaiser Demolished Our Grandstand

Bill the Quill

from the "Bills" album, is an animated version of one of my best-known songs.

William the Conqueror

After performing 'Bill the Quill' about 40 times in the 5 months after
Shakespeare's big day in April 20016, I knocked up another biographical song for another big
anniversary, or rather two anniversaries: the Battle of Stamford Bridge on September 25th 1066,
and the Battle of Hastings, less than three weeks later on October 14th. This song's a bit longer
than 'Bill the Quill' and would have been longer still if two choruses hadn't been dropped, which
at least made the animation a bit easier.

Mary Ann's Teapot

was written at the end of 2016 and didn't really suit being animated - and singing
it to camera was a lot easier anyway!

Until ITV dramatised the true story of Mary Ann Cotton in 2016, I had been unaware of these events from 150
years earlier, despite having spent seven years at school in the town where much of the story happened,
and where my great-grandparents had been living at the time.